Making the San Fernando Valley: Rural Landscapes, Urban Development, and White Privilege (Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation) Review

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Making the San Fernando Valley: Rural Landscapes, Urban Development, and White Privilege (Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation) ReviewWhile growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the 1950s and 1960s, I often wondered why most ethnic and racial minorities lived almost exclusively in one small northeast corner of the Valley -- in Pacoima and San Fernando. At all of the schools I attended -- Winnetka and Chatsworth Park Elementary, Columbus and Lawrence Junior High, and Chatsworth Senior High School -- you could count the number of minority students on your hands. Laura Barraclough skillfully explains why this was the case back then. The San Fernando Valley was racially segregated, despite the Civil Rights Movement, until around 1968 and even later. Barraclough explains the historic, cultural and political trends and events that allow the Valley to remain segregated 10-15 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the Freedom Riders, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and all of the other civil rights activism of the 1950s. Barraclough's analysis is solid and thorough -- and very readable. I highly recommend this book for those interested in Southern California history and minority and urban studies. If you were one of the lucky ones who rode horses during the Valley's more rural times, this book is for you.Making the San Fernando Valley: Rural Landscapes, Urban Development, and White Privilege (Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation) Overview
In the first book-length scholarly study of the SanFernando Valley— home to one-third of the population of Los Angeles—Laura R. Barraclough combines ambitious historical sweep with an on-theground investigation of contemporary life in this iconic western suburb. She is particularly intrigued by the Valley's many rural elements, such as dirt roads, tack-and-feed stores, horse-keeping districts, citrus groves, and movie ranches. Far from natural or undeveloped spaces, these rural characteristics are, she shows, the result of deliberate urbanplanning decisions that have shaped the Valley over the course of more than a hundred years.

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Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy Review

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Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy ReviewWell-respected political scientist and prolific writer Benjamin Barber's "Jihad vs. McWorld" illuminates probably the most profound and compelling argument facing us today, tribalism vs. mass consumerism. Jihad vs. McWorld is the pulling of two major socia-political forces upon the citizenry of the world, jettisoning democracy precariously towards extinction.
"Jihad" as articulated in the book represents extremist tribalist nature of fundamentalist cultures. It is the study of self-serving groups, whether they be of religious factions, nation-states, or various political ideologues. Their only goal is to secure the preservation of their culture and to influence those from outside their belief system. The result is warring tribes, i.e. the feuding ideologies of the Serbia-Croat battles, the plight of the Middle East, Northern Ireland's "religious" war, and the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal State building. "Jihad" leaves no room for a free-thinking civil democracy and absolutely abhors influences from outside it's realm, hence it's ardent distrust of Western consumerist ideology - McWorld.
McWorld is the term coined to define the mass consumerist ideology of global marketing. McWorld is not so much a place but is a consumerist behavior. McWorld crosses all cultural boundaries whether they be open free markets or closed sacrilegious cultures. McWorld has not a human face but a bullish influence. McWorld's ultimate goal is to integrate every nation, every country, every person, every thing into a global market, whether they be mass consumers as pompously displayed as the obesity of the "West" or as manufacturers such as in the Nike corporation's child-labour sweatshops in Thailand. Jihad vs. McWorld provides profound insight into the use of multi-media and global communications for McWorld to spread it's influence.
Jihad vs. McWorld is eloquently written and provides hard, factual insights without becoming alarmist. Benjamin Barber provides the reader with though! t-provoking questions that we as a society have been too lax in addressing and bold solutions that our present political systems can't seem to accommodate. An excellent book, I strongly recommended it.Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy Overview

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A History of Italian Cinema Review

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A History of Italian Cinema ReviewWhat more is there to say? I had to order this book for my Italian Cinema course. It was cheaper on Amazon than at the university book store. A great buy.A History of Italian Cinema OverviewAn unprecedented survey of Italian film from the leading expert in the fieldA History of Italian Cinema is a major new study from the author of the bestselling Italian Cinema -- which has been published in three landmark editions and celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008. Building upon his decades of research, Peter Bondanella has now written the definitive history of the subject, from the birth of cinema to the present day. He has rethought, reorganized, and completely rewritten his previous work, which focused on postwar cinema, and has broadened his coverage of the spaghetti western and comedy genres. Bondanella also now covers a huge range of work that was not previously considered, particularly both popular and 'B' genres, including: the sword and sandal epic or "peplum" film of the 1950s; the Italian horror film, the so-called spaghetti nightmare films (including the subcategories of horror, the Italian zombie and cannibal films), that began in the 1950s and continue through the present; the giallo or Italian mystery thriller; and the poliziesco or Italian crime film from the 1970s to the present. This new book also examines the emergence of a "third wave" of new auteurs born in the 1950s as well as an even younger group of important directors born in the 1960s who have already made their mark on the direction of the Italian cinema in the third millennium. Finally, A History of Italian Cinema now includes the most comprehensive bibliography of the subject ever to be assembled in an English-language publication. Erudite, comprehensive, and heavily illustrated throughout, this is an essential purchase for any fan of Italian film.Praise for Bondanella's previous work in the field:

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After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World Review

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After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World ReviewThe most important contribution of this book is that it presents an alternative to the free market economy we have taken for granted.
Especially after the fall of communism, most people have taken capitalism as the given order of life instead of seeing it for what it really is: An economic system that is dominant at a given point of time. 'After Capitalism' shows us that there are alternative ideas out there, and presents those ideas with force and power, backed up by support of some of the most powerful alternative thinkers of our age, such as Noam Chomsky, P.R. Sarkar and Johan Galtung.
Whether you are a staunch free market supporter or a member of the anti-globalisation movement, this book is important for any person who seriously wants to analyse the issues at hand.
If you are a free market supporter, you will find that 'the other' view is actually based on well founded facts and rational ideas, and not just on thoughtless rebellion without a proper ideology. If you do not understand people of different views, it is hard to argue with them!
If you are already critical to the current economic system, you will find here a wealth of information and theories to shape your thoughts and ideas and discover alternatives to the present system.
In either case, it is an important book that I strongly recommend that everyone interested in the current state of the world should read.After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World OverviewAfter Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World sheds light on the Progressive Utilization Theory, or Prout, a socio-economic model based on decentralized economic democracy, cooperative enterprise and the ethics of inclusion. Foreword by Noam Chomsky, with contributions by Frei Betto, Marcos Arruda, Johan Galtung, Leonardo Boff, Sohail Inayatullah, Ravi Batra, Mark Friedman. The book asserts that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction, based as it is on greed, intense competition and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. In contrast, Prout provides a model of economic development grounded in universal values. It seeks to balance regional self-reliant economic development with ecological protection, and encourages creativity and innovation. In his preface to the book, Noam Chomsky stated, "Alternative visions are crucial at this moment in history. Prout's cooperative model of economic democracy, based on cardinal human values and sharing the resources of the planet for the welfare of everyone, deserves our serious consideration." Historian Howard Zinn, author of the best-selling A People's History of the United States, wrote: "After Capitalism is refreshingly original. It is spiritual and utopian while remaining grounded in reality. Its analysis is intelligent and its vision inspiring."

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The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust Review

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The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust ReviewIt sounds like a good premise if a bit of a tall order, examine Disney's animated features for the role that their themes have played in the moral and spiritual development of generations of children. The idea being that these themes originated in the minds of Walt Disney and his successors, who were not entirely motivated by a bottom line, but had certain political and social agendas to advance.
Unfortunately, Mark I. Pinsky, the religion reporter for The Orlando Sentinel, conducts his analysis of the Disney animation world like a reporter running late for a press run deadline. Mostly this consists of a cursory viewing of 31 Disney films, plucking out a few nuggets of content that support his theme, and creating short chapters speculating on the symbolism within each film.
At the end is a non-philosophical analysis of the 1990's boycott by the Southern Baptist Contention.
Shortly into the book it becomes obvious that Pinsky has made little if any attempt to examine the source material for each film, attributing each relevant element to Disney rather than to the source material from which each screenplay was adapted.
This becomes especially glaring when a reader is familiar with the source material. A more useful approach would have been to compare and contrast the original material with its adaptation; identifying which elements Disney elected to keep, to cut, and to alter. It is likely that what was excluded is just as important as what was included in understanding the motivational forces at work within the Disney empire.
For example, the animated film "Alice in Wonderland" (1951) was more inspired by than adapted from the original Lewis Carroll story. Little more than title, some character names, and the basic premise (little heroine dreaming about going down a rabbit hole into a strange wonderland) was utilized by the Disney movie. That most viewer's believe it was a closer adaptation stems from the use of John Tenniel's original prints as inspiration for the character sketches.
Pinsky details several scenes in the film that were not even part of Carroll's story, then states: "For all the complaints about Disney's tinkering with and sanding down the edges of fairy tales, "Alice in Wonderland" demonstrates the pitfalls of fidelity to the original, of illustrating a classic story rather than transforming it and making it your own". As anyone even vaguely familiar with the book and the film know, on this point Pinsky is totally incorrect. Only someone unfamiliar with Carroll's original could have reached such a faulty conclusion. The failure (be it error or laziness) to do basic research in this case should set off reader alarm bells regarding most of the other assertions Pinsky makes in this book. No doubt some are valid but readers would do well to not accept any of Pinsky's points at face value.
Which doesn't mean that Pinsky's ideas are totally useless. They introduce fresh ways to examine many elements within Disney's features and might actually provide some useful insights to anyone motivated to aggressively explore his cursory assertions.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust Overview

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The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century Review

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The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century ReviewExpect this book to get a wave of one-star liberal-bashing reactionary reviews once the neoconservatives learn that it exists. That's because their entire philosophy, especially concerning the media, is decisively shot down in this powerful manifesto. McChesney's specialty is media ownership patterns and their effects on popular democracy. Here we find that the modern push for deregulation in media industries is leading to a real crisis for democracy in America - in effect there really is a "problem of the media." While megacorporations wrap their campaign for unlimited profits in rhetoric about free speech, the First Amendment, and giving the people what they want, McChesney finds that all of these claims are false and usually downright dishonest.
The current wave of media deregulation has been greased by big media money in the halls of power, and influence peddling among a few power players (including FCC chairman Michael Powell, whom McChesney unapologetically cuts down to size). The common people are left out of the loop, with a loss of media coverage toward local and dissenting viewpoints, and more and more lowest-common denominator media content. Despite the rhetoric about free trade and capitalism, today's media is far from competitive and equitable. Instead it's a hyper-commercial oligarchy of power consolidation and political power grabbing, and McChesney provides plenty of evidence and eloquent arguments about these trends and the damage they are doing to popular democracy.
Certain parts of this book also serve as a monumentally informative primer on modern neoconservative politics, with that movement's almost total contempt for the public interest and slavish kowtowing to corporate bigwigs. That makes this book essential for media watchdogs, plus more general political observers who can then learn more about media trends as a specific issue. A bonus is Chapter 3 in which McChesney brutally deconstructs the standard right-wing claims of "liberal bias" in the media, finding that this is merely an attempt by conservatives to monopolize social thought, in addition to income and political power. This book's final chapter presents a partial happy ending in documenting the vast popular uprising that is now confronting the media giants and their pocketed politicians. The people are up for a long fight against media money and power, but all those who read this outstanding treatise from McChesney will certainly have the knowledge necessary for true democratic progress. [~doomsdayer520~]The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century Overview
The symptoms of the crisis of the U.S. media are well-known-a decline in hard news, the growth of info-tainment and advertorials, staff cuts and concentration of ownership, increasing conformity of viewpoint and suppression of genuine debate. McChesney's new book, The Problem of the Media, gets to the roots of this crisis, explains it, and points a way forward for the growing media reform movement.

Moving consistently from critique to action, the book explores the political economy of the media, illuminating its major flashpoints and controversies by locating them in the political economy of U.S. capitalism. It deals with issues such as the declining quality of journalism, the question of bias, the weakness of the public broadcasting sector, and the limits and possibilities of antitrust legislation in regulating the media. It points out the ways in which the existing media system has become a threat to democracy, and shows how it could be made to serve the interests of the majority.

McChesney's Rich Media, Poor Democracy was hailed as a pioneering analysis of the way in which media had come to serve the interests of corporate profit rather than public enlightenment and debate. Bill Moyers commented, "If Thomas Paine were around, he would have written this book." The Problem of the Media is certain to be a landmark in media studies, a vital resource for media activism, and essential reading for concerned scholars and citizens everywhere.


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